Wigtwizzle - Norman Smith's Travel Blog.: airedale

A very cold and slightly misty morning at St Ives Estate. I wanted to assess how my Prostate Cancer medication was affecting me as it had been a nightmare so far. I had lost a lot of my muscle power and also became tired very quickly.

I was quite pleased with how I got on, a good part of my walk being uphill, if only slightly for the most of it but, with plenty of short stops and a sit down at the farthest point, I manage d to do a good circular walk which gave me some great views down the Aire Valley to Bingley.

In Betty's Wood I got a close up view of the decimation that tree disease had cause with most of the ancient woodland trees having been destroyed and saplings planted in their place.

A sad walk in places but I was very pleased with myself and it raised my spirits no end.

Bell Bank Wood

Betty's Wood

My first blog of the new decade. It is just some photos I took on one of the few nice days we have had this year. On the whole January has been a pretty miserable month with plenty of grey blanket cloud which has been interspersed with periods of wet weather. I'm not a blue sky photographer by any means but a bit more variety in the weather would been nice. There's no sign of any snow coming our way in the foreseeable future either so it looks like we are stuck with it.

With the break in the weather, I decided to head to the excellent Town Head Farm Shop and Cafe at Airton near Malham for some breakfast and a coffee. I arrived fairly early so had a pick of the tables but by the time I left about an hour later, the place was full. I had intended to drive over the tops to Wharfedale but with the weather being so nice, I left my car in the cafe car park and headed off back through the village to meet up with The River Aire and Pennine Way. My walk wasn't a long one, I just followed the path behind Airton Mill, through an area of wetlands and then crossed the infant River Aire, returning along The Pennine Way.

I reckon I was only gone an hour or so but it was still good to get out in the fresh air with the camera. With a bit of planning, I reckon you could go all the way to Malham on The Pennine Way and then return via a series of paths on the other side of the valley with only a minimal amount of road walking. Maybe I'll return later in the year.

It's not a long blog as I tend to lose a bit of motivation at this time of year but hopefully, with the caravan season beginning in March, I will regain my va-va-voom and be a bit more productive.